Episode 17- Martial Arts and Novels with Danielle Orsino

Today, we discuss the journey of Danielle Orsino! Thank you for joining our journey through the arts. Like we always say "Pursuing your Passions is a Bitch... But it's worth it!"

Please Check out our friend, Danielle Orsino-
Four Horsemen Publishers Author Page- https://4horsemenpublications.com/our-authors/danielle-orsino/
Amazon Author Page- https://www.amazon.com/stores/Danielle-M.-Orsino/author/B08BJGPVHH?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Also Check us out and our future projects at The Rogue Scientist Productions
Website- https://theroguescientistproductions.com/
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087537946337
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/roguescientistproductions/

Check out "The World Beyond" by Charles Dockham on Kindle Vella- https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0BMZPTP6G

Check out "The Beautiful Beast" by Carolyn Clark on Kindle Vella-https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0BVMNPBKZ

Check out Watsynthebox- Guest host William Thornhill- https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094728966282&mibextid=b06tZ0

Transcript

The Rogue Scientist Productions (00:02.671)
Thank you and welcome to Pursuing Your Passions as a Bitch. I am your host Charles Dockham, the owner of the Rhodes Scientist Productions and author of The World Beyond, an ongoing story on Kindle Vella. With me I have my guest Danielle Orsino. Danielle?

Danielle M Orsino (00:16.834)
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (00:22.247)
Thank you for joining us today. And today I kind of want to get started on just your history of an author. I know that you kind of had an interesting story in terms of how you got started. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

Danielle M Orsino (00:35.082)
I definitely had an unorthodox journey into authorship. I didn't start out wanting to be an author, though my dad will tell you that it's always been my dream because he found, I think, an essay when I was in second grade saying I wanted to be an author, but a week later I also said I wanted to be Wonder Woman, so who counts that? But what I started out was I was actually a nurse. First I was a pro-am martial artist. I traveled around competing. I was on the USWKA team.

Danielle M Orsino (01:05.054)
as a martial artist. And then I went into personal training, you know, as most amateur athletes do, we go to personal training. And then I went on to nursing because after you beat him up, you got to learn how to patch him up. So I was actually a nurse. And then from there, I met a very special patient who just didn't want to go through treatment anymore. He was being treated for Lyme disease and he just didn't want to do it. So he just one day asked me, tell me a story, keep me in the chair, keep me entertained.

Danielle M Orsino (01:34.73)
And from there I had a conversation with him and kind of just the spark of creativity hit and I told him a story. I didn't think much of it at the time. And he kept encouraging me, write the story down, write the story down, this is really good. And one thing led to another, I wrote the story down and that became the series, Birth of a Fay.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (01:56.892)
That's amazing. And so did you start by self publishing birth of the fair? Did you go through the traditional publishing route?

Danielle M Orsino (02:05.01)
No, I didn't. I went through the traditional publishing route. Uh, I made a lot of mistakes in between though. Let me be very clear. This was not like, Oh sure. I'll do that. No problem. There was a lot of bumps and bruises. Like if you ever want to sit down and know what not to do, come talk to me. I'll totally take you through it. Uh, I fell for every scam out online. Like every scam that there is about, you know, Oh, I'm a mentor. I'll do this for you. I'll do it. Yeah. I fell for it like hook line and sinker because they didn't know what I was doing.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (02:11.875)
Hahaha!

The Rogue Scientist Productions (02:25.839)
Mm-hmm

Danielle M Orsino (02:34.23)
I didn't even read a book on like, I didn't even get like creative writing for dummies. You know, I didn't, I did nothing. I just sat down one day after really being pressed by my patient to go write this, that I finally was like, okay, I'm gonna go write. So I pulled out a journal. I think I bought it in CBS or something, like one of those big books. And I just started writing. And then I was like, oh, people are gonna wanna know how that happens. So I'd pull out another journal and start writing.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (02:47.207)
Mm-hmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (02:56.292)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (03:02.294)
And before too long, I had written, I think, three of the books all at the same time. And completely out of order. There was no pantser or plotting. You know, I didn't even know those terms. Just they're writing. I was like, I don't know. You know, what am I going to do? Like, you know, plot world building. What are those words? Just wrote it all. And then I was like, okay, now what? You know, what do you do? And it went from there.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (03:08.415)
Oh wow. Mm-hmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (03:14.939)
Hehehe

The Rogue Scientist Productions (03:30.235)
Yeah. So you said that you kind of made a lot of mistakes in terms of a lot of people reaching out to you, like you said, being a mentor in terms of the writing field, because our podcast is kind of based on helping others kind of get started. What were some of the pitfalls that you ran into? What were some of the scams that you kind of came across as you were kind of building up?

Danielle M Orsino (03:53.858)
I had a lot of people that were like, oh, I'm a life coach for authors. I love that term. Yeah, so I fell for that one where, you know, they were gonna edit, they were gonna help me like developmental edit and things like that, but they were life coaches. And I'm like, sure, I just want an editor. Like, I just want somebody, you know, and I didn't know the difference between line editing versus developmental edit. I didn't know all those things. I just thought an editor was an editor.

Danielle M Orsino (04:19.518)
So I fell for that scam. And then by the end of it, they were like, yeah, that'll be $800. I'm like, for talking to me? You know, like I thought like, cause I wanted somebody where I could bounce ideas off of like, oh, I think I'm gonna, they read a part. And I'm like, I think I'm gonna do this. And then, you know, they were like, yeah, no, that's a great idea. Yeah, let me, let me walk you through this. And I was like, all right, cool. And then I'm getting like a red line on one sentence or something. And I'm like,

The Rogue Scientist Productions (04:24.964)
Wow!

Danielle M Orsino (04:45.79)
Okay, what are you helping me do? Or they just listened to me and then I'm getting a bill and I'm like, I don't understand. And they were like, why don't we just go straight for you? I'm like, no, no, no, I don't want you to go straight. I want to learn how to do this. So it was like little scams like that that I was totally falling for. I didn't realize it. And then they were like, we're going to life coach you through the writing process. I'm like, okay, I don't need a life coach to through the writing process. I really want to learn how to do this. And they were like, but we have to build you up because you know,

The Rogue Scientist Productions (04:59.518)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (05:15.334)
authorship is hard and you got to get a tough skin. And I'm like, dude, I've been in the ring. I get my face punched in. I don't need a tough skin. Little did I learn that yes you do, but that's a different thing. But it was mistakes like that that I made when I finally was in the process of being published traditionally. I learned never go in with a friend, but once again, separate story. I went to...

The Rogue Scientist Productions (05:28.836)
Isn't it?

Danielle M Orsino (05:44.178)
a publisher that is somewhat well known right now and they want, you know, not a vanity press blah, blah, blah. They do airport, uh, like gift store distribution. That was their main thing. And I was like, okay, that could be really good. It's like, I went to them and I'm like, okay, here's the book. Here's everything. Like here's my marketing, whatever. I really want to get into airport gift stores because I thought that's a great way. People are stuck on a plane. Like they're always looking for a book. So I sent them everything and I said, I'm already published.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (05:58.491)
Oh wow.

Danielle M Orsino (06:13.802)
Like I'm already with somebody and they were like, okay, cool. They said they were interested. They took the book and about a month later, I got the book back with a 36 page scathing scathing critique of the book, how much they did not like this book and I'm like, um, okay. Okay. I just, you guys just said you could distribute it. Like that's what I want.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (06:31.616)
Oh wow.

Danielle M Orsino (06:42.666)
And then at the end they gave me a bill and they said, but for $30,000, we can read it, this book, do a new cover, do this, do that. And, um, we'll republish it. We don't think it's going to bring in a lot of money, but we'll do it. And then we'll get you in the stores. And I'm like, okay, I didn't ask for this. You guys offered this service. I'm saying I want, I don't need you. I don't need a new cover. If you want to reedit, like I'm open to edits, but as I was

The Rogue Scientist Productions (07:10.117)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (07:11.438)
crying when I got this thing, like hysterically crying. And then I called who I had finally found like a great developmental editor, Clete Barrett Smith, who's like my Yoda. He got it and he started reading it and he goes, Danielle, do me a favor, go to page 16. So I did. And he goes, do you see where they talk about Desdemona's father? And I'm like, I never mentioned Desdemona's father. That's not even a plot point in the book. And he goes,

The Rogue Scientist Productions (07:36.923)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (07:39.754)
because they didn't read the book. He's like, this is what I'm trying to tell you. He's like, this is a scam. He's like, this is a huge scam. And that's where I was like, oh, he's like, they're just tearing you down, trying to make you feel. He's like, do you ever watch some of those old dating shows like on VH1, like how to pick up women? And I was like, well, I can't say I did, but I've heard of them. And he's like, okay, one of the things is like, tell the hot chick, like she's not all that hot. Like bring your self esteem down so you can kind of swoop in.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (07:49.272)
Mm-hmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (08:01.469)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (08:09.762)
He's like, this is what they're doing to you. He's like, they're trying to tell you the book isn't that good that you need them. He's like, ignore it. I was like, ooh, okay. So yeah, things like that.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (08:20.131)
Oh wow.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (08:23.503)
Wow, that's an interesting kind of perspective to kind of take a look at it, because everybody I've talked to so far, it's like there are so many different people out there in terms of that can produce your book, but just now that there are so many people that even take advantage of just the authors in general who are wanting to do this by saying, well, we're just gonna...

The Rogue Scientist Productions (08:50.587)
take what you love and then kind of destroy it, but then say, yeah, for $30,000, we'll fix this and we'll make it so much better for you and we'll kind of change all of this for you. It's kind of a huge pitfall in terms of new authors, I think, and you just happened to say that you ran into a lot of them kind of getting started. And so what would you kind of suggest for anybody who's looking to

The Rogue Scientist Productions (09:18.999)
kind of get into the good publishers. How do you kind of see the, after seeing all those mistakes now or seeing all those people who reached out to you then, how do you find the good publisher?

Danielle M Orsino (09:33.002)
I think the first thing you have to do is one, get a good line, uh, line editor, get a good developmental editor. Like before you do anything, pay for the editing process. And I know people are like, I don't, oh, you know, the publisher will do that. This, and I'm like, no, no, no. You have to make sure your work is published is polished. That's the first thing you do. Put your best foot forward. Minimal like get it, get it the way you want it. Think about it. Like if you were going to go out on a date.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (09:41.656)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (10:03.274)
you would want to look presentable. You wouldn't go out with your hair like, you know, half dried. You wouldn't go out with like half a face of makeup on if you were, like, you know, just get it all together. Look presentable. Then start reading reviews. Really like look and see the reviews and then look at the covers of those publications that you'd want to be at and think, does this match the vibe I want?

The Rogue Scientist Productions (10:12.965)
Mm-hmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (10:27.408)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (10:30.294)
Like do all the covers look the same? Does it look like they're just putting like mass production? Is every author treated the same way? You know, that kind of thing. And go from there. You know, like I think DAW from Penguin, you know, they have like the unsolicited way to go. I think that's always a good thing to do because they do actually read everything. They do give you feedback, you know, that's awesome. And then look at some of the smaller boutique publishers. Like I'm with Four Horsemen Publications.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (10:39.789)
Mm-hmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (10:53.999)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (10:59.042)
There's other ones, Fall Staff. There's some smaller ones that I think everybody's got this big dream to be with Harper Collins or Penguin or the big three. And that's all fine, well and good. I was very close to signing with one of the big three, but one of their smaller imprints and metaphysical one, it just doesn't, you know, you can either be a big fish in a little pond or you can be a little fish in a big pond, you know, it kind of depends on the attention and what you need, but

The Rogue Scientist Productions (11:09.819)
Mm-hmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (11:17.705)
Mm-hmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (11:24.719)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (11:27.278)
There's nothing wrong with self publishing either. Self publishing still has the stigma that, you know, oh, you self published, like there's no quality control. There's no check. You're the quality control. So that's why I say like, make sure your editing is on point. Go find a really good editor. Go to IBPA, look at your editing, look at all that. Pay a good cover designer. It's still your work. It's still your badge of honor. If you do all that,

The Rogue Scientist Productions (11:38.971)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (11:54.427)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (11:56.062)
then look for a good marketing because marketing's really where it's at. You could write the book and do all that. That's a quarter of your job. That's like looking at the iceberg, the rest of it's all underwater, that's your marketing. So I just think you have to really plan it out.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (12:03.72)
Ahem.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (12:08.504)
Yes.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (12:12.171)
Now, and that's a great point because that's, I mean, I'm walking through that process as well, which is the most important piece is writing the book. And that's what I've seen a lot of authors kind of run into as I've written the book, now what do I do? And people, and I mean, writing the book itself is huge. You've already beat the five to 3% of people who will actually finish a book in their lifetime. And now you've already kind of beaten that percent. But now the big piece of

The Rogue Scientist Productions (12:41.791)
either following the route of traditional publishing, follow the route of self-publishing. And if you choose self-publishing, you take a lot of what the traditional publishers do for you, which is the cover art, making sure everything's edited, making sure the distribution happens, going through the different channels of making sure everything is as perfect as it can be, and going through that entire process. And then on top of that, marketing everything yourself, getting yourself in front of the people you want to get in front of doing all that.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (13:11.275)
even in the traditional publishing route, you are really in charge of that marketing piece because they don't have a designated team usually that markets your book. They're a big publisher with hundreds of authors that they're working with and they are trying to do their best through their traditional channels of marketing your book. But if you really want to get your book in front of more people, you take it on yourself in terms of marketing and getting yourself out there. So it's a... So it's...

Danielle M Orsino (13:26.711)
Mm-hmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (13:41.011)
It's getting to know everything, but I love that you kind of really nailed that on the head when it comes to writing a book is an iceberg. You're you're you're you. Like I said, you've you've beat the five percent of people who will actually finish the book in their lifetime. But now the rest of the iceberg happens. So.

Danielle M Orsino (13:58.798)
Mm-hmm. Agreed.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (14:02.283)
Yeah, yeah, and so I think are you on book four now is kind of what I noticed.

Danielle M Orsino (14:11.022)
I'm on book, book six actually comes out June 16th, forgive us. I have one novella, so I've done seven and that ends volume one of Birth of the Fay. Volume one of the series is done. I've started the three books that will be in volume two. Those are, they just, I actually just got them back from Omkleet, my developmental editor. Those are back and I have to go through them.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (14:18.057)
Oh awesome.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (14:21.985)
Okay.

Danielle M Orsino (14:38.994)
And then I've started the first book in volume three. So I'm a couple books in right now. Yeah, so, and then I have an offshoot that I'm writing with C.R. Rice, where we're combining both our worlds and doing a little crossover. She's doing the realm, I do the veil, and we're kind of, she's a dystopian YA fantasy author. I'm an adult, so we're kind of crossing our worlds a little bit.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (14:44.527)
Oh wow.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (14:53.327)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (15:06.83)
and seeing what that'll do. So, you know, it's kind of cool to have somebody that you can bounce ideas off of and then cross over a little bit. So I'm excited about that.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (15:17.199)
That's amazing. And I have to congratulate you on, like you said, you started with martial arts, got through martial arts, and then you did nursing. And then from there, you've become a published author with six books underneath your belt. And no, that's amazing. And honestly, a path that I look forward to, in terms of my end, to try and follow behind and try to do all those different things. But...

The Rogue Scientist Productions (15:46.235)
And I'm always thankful to have guests like you on our podcast so that way I can share with others your stories in terms of how you got started, how you got to where you are and what you can do better or what they can do better in terms of how they're doing things. So I'm always thankful to have guests like you on our podcast. And I know that you're doing cosplaying too.

Danielle M Orsino (16:10.763)
Thank you.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (16:13.563)
Do you go to a lot of Comic Cons to try and advertise your books?

Danielle M Orsino (16:20.746)
I've always gone to Comic Cons. I'm usually a DC girl dressed up. You can catch me up as Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman, Poison Ivy, Catwoman. I've always done that. I have not yet appeared as my characters. I'm kind of getting pushed more in that direction to show up, but I've always gone to Comic Con as my comic book heroes. I actually did my first Marvel cosplay.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (16:25.249)
Mm-hmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (16:40.048)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (16:48.594)
A couple weeks ago at GalaxyCon Richmond, I went as Firestar and I met Chris Claremont because he's one of my idols and I was dressed up as Firestar and you know, he loved it. I loved it. I was crying. It was great. It was wonderful. It was a hot mess all at the same time, you know, the whole thing. But I love going to Comic Cons and I love cosplaying, playing, cosplaying for years. I have not broken out Queen Aurora yet at a Comic Con.

Danielle M Orsino (17:15.678)
it's coming, I just, I think I'm just really nervous to do it. Because you know, for readers who want to see me there, they're excited. But then, you know, you're walking around with a crown on your head and wings or, you know, a big gant of people are like, who are you? And you want to just turn around and be like, I'm Aurora. And they're like, uh, yeah, okay. So, yeah, there's like this, this battle inside of me. Uh, but usually if I go to signings, like at a Barnes and Noble or something, and I'm there as Aurora, that's different.

Danielle M Orsino (17:44.202)
you know, I'm going for that one specific purpose. But usually at a Comic-Con, yeah, you know, I've got white paints on my face and I've got pigtails and I'm walking around with a big mallet looking for pudding. So, you know, it's Harley Quinn all the way.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (17:55.739)
Oh yeah, no, and I definitely understand that. But now that you mentioned Barnes & Noble and stuff and kind of being there, what was the feeling that you've had the first time seeing your books on the shelf when it came to Barnes & Noble?

Danielle M Orsino (18:14.082)
I only, I'll be honest, Barnes and Noble, I only saw the first initial cover in Barnes and Noble, my first edition, which was the blue cover with the gold writing. And since then I moved publishers. So the first time I saw that, I was kind of like, it was a little surreal. Since then, I've moved on to four horsemen publications and I was actually just at the Barnes and Noble in Charlotte on Sharon Road.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (18:26.331)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (18:39.382)
And I was just talking to them about setting up a signing. So I'm excited to finally see my mermaid cover and see the full face series in a Barnes and Noble. As much as Barnes and Noble is saying that they're changing to welcome more, I know I'm still considered an indie author because I'm not published by one of the big three. I hope that they really are changing to allow more of us in there. Because when you go in, it's still the same authors that you see.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (19:05.327)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (19:07.694)
I hope that they really are changing to allow more of us in there because when you walk in it's like I said, it's still the same. And even when you go in, I mean, I've actually had calls from Barnes and Noble to come in, bring your one sheet. I go in there and then they look me up and they go, oh, you're print on demand. And I'm like, yeah. And I just stared at them. I'm like, what's, you called me in here. I'm like, what's the problem? And they're like, yeah, you're print on demand. I'm like, my book is returnable. I'm like, print on demand is better for the environment, which is why my publisher does it.

Danielle M Orsino (19:37.27)
And they're like, yeah. Oh, and then they give me the look and I'm like, I was just on the Tamron Hall show. I'm part of their recommended reading list. What's the issue guys? And then they just kind of look down at you. And I'm like, you get that a couple of years ago, you guys were like the way of borders. Like you were gonna close any minute now. And like, what's, you know, so it's funny cause you wanna be in Barnes and Noble as an author, but at the same time, you're like, Amazon's gonna put you out of business any day.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (19:38.491)
Mm-hmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (19:57.463)
Yeah.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (20:04.615)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (20:06.522)
You guys have to like start catering more to the readers and the not every reader just wants Cassandra Claren Sarah J Maas They're looking for new authors. You have to allow Smaller authors into these stores and not just give us not the same wrong thing wrong with Harry Potter So the Potters don't come after me, but you know, there's more to fantasy than Sarah J Maas You know Lord of the Rings Game of Thrones

The Rogue Scientist Productions (20:07.724)
Yeah.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (20:18.349)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (20:35.566)
It's there's more to it than that. It's not the same, the same people. Like I wish that Barnes and Nobles would open its doors to some of the smaller authors and some of the smaller presses that are out there because you have like orange blossom. You have four horsemen. Some of these smaller ones that put out amazing authors, but Barnes and Noble still has those blinders on. And it's like, you know, uh, these other, these big three, they do print on demand. It's just, nobody knows about it.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (20:47.875)
Hmm

The Rogue Scientist Productions (21:06.231)
Yeah, and it's just that their name is probably more out there in that case, and so that's why they don't necessarily care as much about the print on demand piece. But that's still kind of sad to hear that it's such a trouble to kind of get your book into Barnes and Noble, especially now that, like you said, yeah, things, Barnes and Noble for...

Danielle M Orsino (21:16.468)
Mm-hmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (21:30.703)
the longest time was going the way of how you said borders, which is we were expecting them to close at any moment. They were, I mean, books had gone digital to such an extent that we were expecting all like bookstores to be closing at some point. And I've only just recently after COVID seen a resurgence of bookstores and people trying to be more into bookstores and stuff like that. And

The Rogue Scientist Productions (22:00.363)
I mean, we just got another one just in town and we have a like a Depot store a couple of towns over, but for the most part, yeah, Barnes and Noble, which we thought was everywhere is down to one store and I think the entire state, so.

Danielle M Orsino (22:18.994)
Exactly. It's, you know, you just want to, and I've, I've seen the new CEO say, you know, he's going more in that direction of, um, catering toward the town and where the Barnes and Noble is. And he wants people to actually come in and ask for books. And he wants the authors to come in, but I don't think it's reached each Barnes and Noble because I think they're still stuck in the ways of the old corporate where it was like, Nope, the one sheets have to come in, they have to do it this way. So I think there, there will be a cultural shift.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (22:42.779)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (22:48.07)
Uh, we're just not quite there yet, but the indie author, and I still even hate to call us indie authors because I just think we're authors that's just, you know, which should be just more all encompassing anybody who writes a book. I think it should be on a shelf because there is a reader. You know, your book might not be for everybody because let's face it, any author who does my books for everybody. No, it's not. Uh, you know, there's you're an acquired taste for somebody and you should have the opportunity.

Danielle M Orsino (23:16.782)
to get it in front of somebody, that your audience is out there. You should have that, that chance. So I just think, you know, I wish Barnes and Noble would actually just put out a shelf that says like indie authors, new indie, and let people have their shot to go find somebody new because, you know, it's such a small world when you say romance, fantasy, or detective, you know, there's only certain authors that you think of.

Danielle M Orsino (23:43.894)
And even James Patterson just did a very interesting article on, uh, you know, the New York Times bestseller list, because even he got shafted. And he was like, you guys get that this whole thing's a scam. And I'm like, well, if James Patterson saying that, maybe we should all just stop with the, what's our ranking? What's our this? We're all trying to make money. I mean, anybody who says like, I don't want to make money as an authors. I'm doing it for this BS. We all want to make money. Let's be very honest about this, but you know, yeah.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (23:53.599)
Mmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (24:10.831)
Yeah, you want the check. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (24:13.818)
Like we all got to live and breathe. Okay. We all got to work, but you know, maybe it would be nice to just all have an equal footing at some point, or, you know, since we're all not living in a utopian society and that's all, you know, kumbaya. Let's just have a shelf that says indie authors, new presses, smaller presses, and try to get our books on there.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (24:34.615)
Mm-hmm. No, and that's kind of going to be a huge piece, especially going forward in the next couple of years, because you have and taking a step back really fast. I did not realize that's what indie authors was. And I have to be kind of honest about that, because I thought indie authors was associated with specifically self-publishing in the self-publishing route.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (25:02.767)
and not necessarily the traditional publishing route. I didn't know that there's an actual subsection of, here's the self-publishing authors, here's the authors in smaller traditional publishers or in the publishers, and they're still considered indie authors. And then there's the traditional publishers in, like you said, the big three. And that's when you're technically, quote unquote, an author is when you're, like you said, within the Penguin book publishing. I didn't realize that the...

The Rogue Scientist Productions (25:30.711)
by just being in a smaller publisher and then in the author too.

Danielle M Orsino (25:35.334)
Yeah, it's kind of, I didn't even realize it either until I was one, cause I was like, Oh, doesn't that mean self published? And then they were like, no, we're still considered indie. I'm like, but I'm traditionally public. You know, I was kind of still like, they're like, no, they're like, you're in the soup with us. I'm like, okay. You know, it's one of those things where you're like, you don't know until you're in the pool. You're like, okay, here I am. But you know, I'm happy to be there. So it doesn't, you know, I'd be happy to be there if I'm self published, whether indie, whether whatever, I'm just like, Hey, look, I wrote a book.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (25:46.656)
Yeah!

The Rogue Scientist Productions (25:50.507)
Yeah.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (25:55.969)
Yeah.

Danielle M Orsino (26:04.951)
Who cares?

The Rogue Scientist Productions (26:06.716)
Exactly. And you're up to six.

Danielle M Orsino (26:09.118)
Yeah, so something's happening.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (26:11.935)
Yeah. Yeah, you've already not just going from like that three to five percent of people who actually finish a book. You're now within that one percent who's finished multiple. And that's, that's amazing, honestly. So when it comes to the publishing portion, and I've actually been very curious about this myself. So you were able to publish the first book, you moved to a new publisher.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (26:39.179)
So when did the discussions happen with your new publisher in terms of a multiple book series?

Danielle M Orsino (26:48.19)
That was pretty much off the bat when I moved. I knew this was a series. I had already written, I already had everything kind of planned out. So they met me on a podcast and had already heard rumblings that maybe the publisher I was with wasn't right for the series. So when I met them on the podcast, the minute the record button was over, Erica Lance, who's the CEO of Four Horsemen, kind of leaned in and she's like, so you got book two?

The Rogue Scientist Productions (26:51.544)
Off the bat.

Danielle M Orsino (27:17.682)
And I was like, yeah. And she's like, so you releasing it? Like, what's the release date? And I'm like, no, the cover's done. Book two is ready. I just have not picked a release date. And she's like, so you happy over there? And she's like, cause I've, I've heard some things and I'm like, well, I said, you know, they, they mainly do nonfiction. I'm the first fiction. And she's like, so let's talk. And it was just there. It was like, boom, here it is. Uh, and she offered me a contract, I think two weeks later.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (27:26.979)
Isn't.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (27:39.654)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (27:47.286)
But it took me, it was May, probably took me about a month and a half, two months to make the jump and to sign. I was very kind of like, oh, I don't know, you know, what I want to do back and forth. But when we did have the talk, I sat with her, I sat with Val, Val Willis, who's the COO for Horseman. They asked me, they were like, what is your plan? Like, we want to hear from beginning to end, what is this series about, exactly what your plan is. So when I detailed it out.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (27:56.545)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (28:17.15)
They knew exactly they were getting a series. They wanted a series. They made it clear they did not want offshoots. It was not a one and done thing. So once we discussed that, I said it was volumes. They were in, they were like, yeah, let's go. The one thing they said was we hate the cover because they had seen the first cover and they were like, no. And I'm like, oh no, but here's the second cover. And I showed them a picture and then I emailed it. And I had this, you know how authors get, I had this whole thing about, oh, it's shades of blue to mimic.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (28:24.323)
Mm-hmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (28:43.418)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (28:45.774)
Fae blood being spilt and it's umbrae and they were, I remember Val just going, uh-huh, uh-huh, that's nice Danielle. Okay, she's like, stop right there. And I'm like, what? And she's like, do you know what happens when you put light blue and pearlescent white type set together? And I'm like, it looks amazing. It's like a Tiffany box. And she goes, no. And she put it under fluorescent light and she goes, it washes out. And I was like, it does what now? And she's like, yeah, you can't see it under fluorescent light.

Danielle M Orsino (29:15.466)
She's like, so imagine that in Barnes and Nobles. And I was like, oh, I hadn't, really? It washes out? I was still like, are you sure? She's like, yes, because I printed it off and put it under fluorescent light to see what would happen. And she's like, and you can't see your type set. And I was like, well now, isn't that, and I was backtracking in my head because I had already designed this cover. I paid for it. It was done.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (29:44.766)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (29:45.118)
And she was like, yeah, what's your next step? And I'm like, I'll change it to gold. She goes, so you're gonna have light blue and gold with your other one being dark Navy and gold. And I'm like, yes, I'll have a brand identity. She goes, no, you're gonna have two books that look identical and people are gonna pass it over. And I was like, that's a great plan. So then they happened to see a photo shoot I did dressed as Lady Serena from the book. And

The Rogue Scientist Productions (30:04.85)
Mm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (30:08.891)
the

Danielle M Orsino (30:14.354)
Val was like, what are you doing with these pictures? And I'm like, I don't know. I said, I think Faye magazine is gonna use them. She goes, you own them? I said, yeah. She goes, give me 24 hours, I'll call you back. And so her, Eric and I made a plan to meet the next day. And then Val popped up the cover for book one where I'm on as Lady Serena. And I was like, what's that? She goes, so here's the new plan. And she's like, Eric and I talked about it. You are now the cover model for the rest of your series. She's like, you cosplay, we're using them.

Danielle M Orsino (30:45.358)
And that's how I got on the cover. And that was them saying, this is how it's going to be.

Danielle M Orsino (30:51.558)
And they made me the cover and that was it. And now I take the pictures at least for volume one, you know, in cosplay, but that was the publishing just being like, this is what we're gonna do. See you later. That's what happened.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (30:58.107)
Mm-hmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (31:04.495)
Wow. Yeah, that's actually really cool. I mean, you're lucky enough that you would, yeah. Oh yeah, no, and you're lucky enough that you were a cosplayer beforehand. So you have that still set beforehand. So no, that's really, really cool. And actually, just before our podcast, I was looking on to get the hardcover of the book just beforehand. So,

Danielle M Orsino (31:08.878)
It was a little shocking, but it was a lot of fun.

Danielle M Orsino (31:32.962)
Thank you.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (31:34.651)
No, yeah. No, I'm very happy that you were able to join us for our podcast today. I know that we're kind of coming towards the end of our timeframe now. Is there anything else that you think I should be able to inform our guests before we kind of come to the very end?

Danielle M Orsino (31:54.494)
Is this shameless self-promotion time or just advice time? You tell me. Advice time, perfect. You got it. Advice time, I would just say, if you're thinking of starting a book and you wanna think you wanna write, don't write for committee. Don't write by committee. Don't give everybody the manuscript and be like, okay, what do you think? Should I change this? Should I do this? Write the book that you wanna read.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (31:59.615)
Advice time, advice time. I'll give you shameless self-promotion. Yeah.

Danielle M Orsino (32:24.114)
and go from there, but spend the money on a developmental editor. And I don't mean spend thousands of dollars. I just mean, find somebody you can work with, uh, who's not going to yes you to death and be like, everything you do is phenomenal. It's great. It's wonderful. Find somebody who's going to be honest with you and then get a line editor. Those are two different types of editing. Learn it, whether you have to look it up online and like really know the difference between the two of them.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (32:45.871)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (32:49.654)
but do spend the money on it because nowadays when you submit to any publisher, they want something clean. They don't want to mess. They have to constantly keep going back and fixing and fixing and fixing. That's not what they want. So just put your best foot forward and then kind of go from there, but don't give it to your family members and then your best friend because

Danielle M Orsino (33:15.758)
they're not going to want to hurt your feelings or you're going to get the opposite. You're going to get somebody who's always wanted to be a writer and they're going to be jealous that you did it and you're going to get totally demolished. So I would say those are the main things. And if you are already a first time writer, a first time author, don't make good reads, your barometer or your metric for if you're a good writer, just, just, just don't do it. Good reads is look, it's, it's great. You need the, we all need the reviews. We got it.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (33:24.23)
Mm-hmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (33:37.786)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (33:43.47)
but don't hang your hat on whether you're a good author based on that external validation because good reads can like, you know, sometimes destroy your ego. Don't hang it all on reviews. Remember, it's somebody giving their opinion based on the mood they were in when they read your book. They could go read your book in a year and have a totally different opinion or they could have been having a bad day when they wrote the review, whatever. Don't get like too caught up in it.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (33:51.011)
Mm-hmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (34:02.54)
Mm-hmm.

Danielle M Orsino (34:11.39)
Everybody's going to have a one-star review. Everybody's going to have a two-star review. Just, just don't worry about it. I know it because I cried over those reviews many, many times. It's okay. We all got them. You know, Stephen King has them. You know, everybody's got those bad reviews. It's totally cool. Just wear it as a badge of honor. You finally got a one-star review. Great. Now you're with the rest of us and just move on.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (34:25.042)
Mm-hmm.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (34:37.615)
Thank you. Well, now we're getting to our shameless self-promotion piece. I would like to thank you, Danielle, for being on our podcast today. Are there any projects or social media or upcoming books that you'd like your listeners to reach out to you, follow you on or buy?

Danielle M Orsino (34:54.39)
Everybody can follow me on Instagram at birth of the Faye F-A-E underscore novel You can slide into the DMS ask me any questions you want if it's about writing if it's about the Faye Whatever you want to do check that out my youtube channel You can check me out on my website at birth of the Faye comm and then a really cool project I'm doing is actually with mel diverse comm they're making their own Los video games you can actually adopt your very own Los who is the main dragon?

Danielle M Orsino (35:23.634)
in the Birth of the Faes series. He's based off my little Yorkie, Carlos. So you'll be able to adopt your own dragon, have your own little virtual dragon and carry him with you and train him and pet him and love him and do whatever you want to do and name him. If you don't want the name Lose, you can come up with your own little name and you can have your very own Lose. So that'll be coming out very soon. And I'm excited about that. The Birth of the Faes series is available wherever

Danielle M Orsino (35:53.918)
and come meet me, say hi, I'll be at the pop-up bookshop where we'll be selling other authors besides myself. So if you wanna get a good dystopian novel, I know a great series by C.R. Rice, she'll be there and we'll have a bunch of other authors. So you can come catch me at GalaxyCon Raleigh.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (36:12.751)
Thank you. As for me, you'll be able to find us on our website, The Rogue Scientist Productions, where we have our merchandise and links to my story on Kindle Vella, The World Beyond. You also have all of our Rogue Scientist social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr. The best way to support us is to like our podcast on your favorite podcast platform of choice and let us know how much you've enjoyed our show. We want to thank Danielle for being our guest today and thank all of our listeners for joining us as well.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (36:39.075)
This has been our podcast to all of those out there looking to get started in a new career in the arts, such as acting, writing, music, comedy and more. Always remember, pursuing your passions is a bitch, but it's worth it.

The Rogue Scientist Productions (36:56.515)
Alright.